Will 'Celltrion,' Chosen by Ants, Make a Comeback?

Europe's Approval of 'Rekkirona' Sparks Temporary Surge in Celltrion Trio Stocks
Market Experts Say "Oral Treatment Approval Is Key"

[Asia Economy Reporter Junho Hwang] On the 12th (local time), the European Union (EU) Commission officially approved the COVID-19 antibody treatment developed by Celltrion, 'Rekkirona' (generic name Regdanvimab), causing the stock prices of the Celltrion trio to surge. With the revival of Celltrion, the leading bio stock, the bio sector's comeback also seems possible, but the response from the securities industry is not very optimistic.

According to the Korea Exchange on the 16th, Celltrion Pharm closed at 137,400 KRW, up 16.15% on the 15th, following the approval impact of Rekkirona. This was the first double-digit increase since August 11. Celltrion also rose 9.13%, and Celltrion Healthcare, the leading KOSDAQ stock, jumped 8.42%. Along with the rise of the Celltrion trio, Samsung Biologics, which had no particular positive news, also rose by 3.72%.

Notably, it was individual investors who boosted the stock prices of the Celltrion trio. In the case of Celltrion Pharm, while individuals net bought stocks worth 16.7 billion KRW, foreigners net sold stocks worth 14.9 billion KRW. Similarly, for Celltrion (10.9 billion KRW) and Celltrion Healthcare (18.8 billion KRW), individuals were buying while foreigners were selling. In fact, the stock prices of the Celltrion trio were quiet on the day of the EU approval and only surged on the next trading day, the 15th. It is likely that foreigners and institutions, who are good at gathering information, received the approval news first, but due to the emergence of oral treatments, expectations for the intravenous Rekkirona approval were not high.

The securities industry is watching Celltrion with a similar perspective. Hyungsoo Kim, a researcher at Hanwha Investment & Securities, maintained a target price of 300,000 KRW for Celltrion despite the new drug approval, stating, "The European approval of the antibody drug developed in-house has significance as a global new drug, but since oral treatments are also being prepared for approval, the market potential is expected to be limited."

Na Kyung Lee, a researcher at Heungkuk Securities, estimated Celltrion's operating profit this year to increase by 4.6% from the previous year to 744.7 billion KRW, analyzing, "With the expected emergency use approval of oral treatments from Merck (Molnupiravir) or Pfizer next year, a significant sales growth was not anticipated."

Perhaps due to these forecasts, the stock prices of the Celltrion trio are showing a downward trend in the market today. As of 10:09 AM today, Celltrion is down 0.86% at 231,000 KRW, Celltrion Pharm is down 1.09% at 135,900 KRW, and Celltrion Healthcare is down 1.73% at 91,100 KRW.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.